The present invention relates to conveyors in general, and to devices for advancing fragments of water ice in particular.
Wherever meals are served, diners will naturally choose a beverage to accompany their entree. Where the beverage is a carbonated drink, a fruit juice, an ice tea, or other water-based drink, the coolness of the drink increases the satisfaction of the consumer. No matter how cool the drink is at time of dispensing--and most drinks cannot be chilled below 32 degrees Fahrenheit--a few minutes in a room temperature receptacle will cause the liquid to warm noticeably. The answer to maintaining drinks at near-freezing temperatures has been known for centuries--chips or cubes of water ice suspended in the drink will depress the liquid temperature until all the ice is melted.
Twentieth century developments in refrigeration have made high-quality, high purity ice chips and ice cubes available year-round in all climates. A highly competitive business environment and an ever-increasing demand for quality service at a reasonable cost has seen the restaurant and food service industry work to deliver cool drinks to customers rapidly and with a minimum of labor.
One approach to satisfying this need is to make fountain beverages, fruit juices, and other drinks available to customers at self-service dispensing stations. These stations also provide a customer-operated source of ice chips or cubes. The self-service beverage stations relieve congestion at the cash register, speed up the delivery of beverages to the customer, and allow each consumer to select the ratio of ice to beverage desired. To assist with traffic flows, it would be desirable to place beverage stations in locations remote from the teller or order taker. On the other hand, from a service standpoint, if frequent trips to the beverage station for ice replenishment are required by the restaurant personnel, the beverage station should be located close at hand.
By positioning the ice reservoir or ice maker at a location remote from the beverage dispensing stations, both the needs of customer convenience and ease of stocking can be satisfied. The ice dispenser and display disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,672, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, provided a conveyor system using a single looped wire or cable having evenly spaced paddles which advanced ice chips through a cylindrical conduit This system allowed a stockpile of ice to be positioned below the counterfor advancement to and dispensing from above-counter outlets. The conveying chain was driven by a single cog wheel which engaged several paddles at a time and thereby advanced the entire looped chain of paddles as well as the ice engaged by the paddles. However, this system, through many hours of reliable dispensing of ice, induced wear on the cog, the paddles, and the connecting hardware.
In addition to requiring ice in beverages procured at a dining facility, consumers may purchase bags of ready-made ice cubes or chips, especially when quantities of ice are required that are not conveniently prepared in a home freezer. Hence many retail outlets will sell bagged ice, either prepared on the premises, or purchased from suppliers. In order to conveniently dispense ice downwardly into containers, the ice must first be elevated above the level of the bags. If the ice is to be elevated by a conveyor, compactness and long-term operation of the conveying system is highly desirable.
What is needed is an effective ice conveyor system having extended wear life.